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Gustav Forsling

Minor Transactions: 1/21/18

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After a 13-game schedule on Saturday, the NHL has five games scheduled today, including the Vegas Golden Knights against the Carolina Hurricanes this afternoon. If the expansion Golden Knights come away with a victory, they will pass the Tampa Bay Lightning in the standings as the best team in hockey. In the meantime, keep an eye out for roster moves:

  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled defenseman Joe Hicketts from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL today. The team recalled the diminutive Hicketts after defenseman Trevor Daley suffered a lower-body injury. Despite being 5-foot-8, 180 pounds, Hicketts has proven to be a one of the Griffins most physical players and many have felt deserves to be getting playing time with the struggling Red Wings. How much playing time he will get is unknown, but the 21-year-old undrafted free agent has two goals and six assists in 43 games this season.
  • CapFriendly also reported that after activating forward J.T. Compher off of injured reserve Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche also placed forward Sven Andrighetto on injured reserve with a lower-body injury to make room for him. The 24-year-old Andrighetto has missed seven games and hasn’t played since Dec. 31.
  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers tweets that the Chicago Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Gustav Forsling to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The 21-year-old defenseman has been with the team all season, having played in 41 games. He has three goals and 10 assists, but needs to build his confidence, according to Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mark Lazerus. The move opens a spot for forward Artem Anisimov to return to Chicago’s lineup. Anisimov has missed the team’s last 10 games with an upper-body injury.

Central Notes: Fabbri, Forsling, Bonino, Turris

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Although he tore his ACL nearly seven weeks ago, Blues forward Robby Fabbri only underwent surgery to fix the ligament on Tuesday, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  The team revealed that there were no complications with the procedure and that there is no timetable to return.  A return this season is highly unlikely as these injuries can take between six-to-nine months to heal while the team will likely want to be cautious considering this is the second time in less than a year that he required this surgery after also tearing the same ACL back in February.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • Blackhawks defenseman Gustav Forsling is expected to make his return to the lineup on Thursday, reports Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. He has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury.  To make room for him, the team is expected to shift Jan Rutta back to his natural right side which could push offseason acquisition Connor Murphy out of the lineup for a fourth time this season.
  • After landing Kyle Turris via trade over the weekend, the Predators are getting closer to getting another center back in their lineup as Nick Bonino is nearing a return to game action, notes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Bonino has missed the last ten games due to a lower-body injury sustained back on October 14th.  Considering the team gave him a four-year, $16.4MM contract back in the summer, it will be interesting to see if they deploy him as their third line center or if they opt instead to try him on the wing inside their top-six.
  • Speaking of Turris, Vingan reports in the same column that he has gone through the immigration visa process, freeing him up to join the team. The Predators are off until Saturday and it’s expected that Turris will make his Nashville debut in that game against Pittsburgh.

Waivers & Recalls: 10/04/17

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The first day of the regular season has brought a fair amount of movement already, with extensions, retirements and trades. There are also five players that have been placed on the waiver wire, while others have been recalled to play in their respective team’s opening games. Here are the minor moves from today:

Waivers:

Brandon Pirri (VGK)
Chandler Stephenson (WSH)
Joe Colborne (COL)
Eric Tangradi (DET)
Patrick Wiercioch (VAN)

Recalls:

Alex DeBrincat (CHI)
Gustav Forsling (CHI)

Blackhawks Place Hossa On LTIR, Sign Cody Franson

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The Chicago Blackhawks have completed what may be the worst kept secret in the league, by moving Marian Hossa to long-term injured reserve and signing Cody Franson to a one-year deal worth $1MM. Franson was technically in camp on a professional tryout, but those around the team had long guessed that he had a handshake deal in place to sign after the season was underway.

Franson will come in to help a defense that has more questions than ever for the Blackhawks. After trading away Niklas Hjalmarsson this offseason, the team will be relying on several inexperienced players to fill out the pairs behind Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. Franson, with his 527 games played in the NHL has more league experience than Connor Murphy, Michal Kempny, Jan Rutta and Jordan Oesterle put together, making him a welcome sight for coach Joel Quenneville.

Still, Franson doesn’t come without his faults. During his time with Nashville, Toronto and Buffalo, Franson has garnered a reputation as an excellent puck-mover and powerplay quarterback that has trouble keeping up with speedy forwards and can sometimes find himself floating out of position in his own end. He’s seen the most success when sheltered with offensive zone starts and an easier matchup, something that he may not be welcome to in Chicago. While Keith will certainly take the toughest matchups on a nightly basis, Franson will likely be given his fair share of responsibility at both ends.

With Hossa going on LTIR (joining Michal Rozsival and Jordin Tootoo) and Franson signed, the Blackhawks now have several million dollars in cap room to play with this season. Alex DeBrincat and Gustav Forsling have been recalled for the season opener, eating into that cap space, but the team will still have a chance to bolster their defense corps in-season. It won’t be easy for the usually powerhouse Chicago franchise, but with a forward group that still boasts some of the very best players in the league, they certainly can’t be counted out.

Jordin Tootoo Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made several roster moves heading into the season, including moving Jordin Tootoo to long-term injured reserve. The list also includes assigning several players to the minor leagues, but both Alex DeBrincat and Gustav Forsling are expected to be back with the club.

Tootoo joins Michal Rozsival on LTIR for the Blackhawks, who are also expected to use it for Marian Hossa after the roster deadline passes today. Chicago is using these transactions to maximize the amount of cap space they’ll be able to use, and set themselves up to sign Cody Franson to an NHL contract. The team is right up against the cap at the moment, but will have some room to play with once the season begins.

Interestingly, both Tootoo and Rozsival signed one-year contract extensions on the same day last season, in order to fulfill some of the expansion draft requirements for the Blackhawks. Now both will start the year away from the team on LTIR, without clear timelines on when they’ll be back with the team. Chicago will instead turn to another crop of young players to contribute this season, including DeBrincat and John Hayden.

Cap Problems Loom – A Look Ahead For Chicago

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ management will have to take a deep, long look in the mirror this off-season. Their core is locked up and in their primes. With an offense boasting Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, grizzled Marian Hossa, and a resurgent Artem Anisimov, there were many predictions around the league for Chicago to reclaim another cup. Instead, the comparatively deep lineup Nashville iced completely dominated Chicago, sending them packing in a 4 game sweep – the first ever time an “8th seed” has swept a “1 seed”.

This is an analysis of Chicago’s cap frustrations, and what has led to them.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each account for $10.5 MM towards the team cap, and are both under contract until the 2022-23 season. With a cap ceiling that is expected to remain in the ballpark of its current $73 MM, this is a massive $21 MM, 28.8% of the team total. In past seasons, contributions from players on ELCs and cheap one-to-two year deals made this issue far less concerning. Success will do a lot to mask poor planning on management’s part.

Looking at their roster situation next year, the squad looks something like this (numbers represent $MM towards cap):

Nick Schmaltz (0.925) – Jonathan Toews (10.5) – Marian Hossa (5.275)

Artemi Panarin (6.0) – Artem Anisimov (4.550) – Patrick Kane (10.5)

Dennis Rasmussen (RFA) – Marcus Kruger (3.083) – Richard Panik (RFA)

Ryan Hartman (0.863) – Tanner Kero (0.750) – __________

*******

 

Nik Hjalmarsson (4.1) – Duncan Keith (5.538)

Brent Seabrook (6.875) – Trevor van Riemsdyk (0.825)

Michal Kempny (RFA) – Gustav Forsling (0.873)

************

Michal Roszival (0.650)

 

Corey Crawford (6.0)

_________

 

A few things to note: there are still 4 likely vacancies on this roster, and the team would probably prefer to have at least one more extra skater on hand for the season. Before the RFA contracts are negotiated, this comes to a total of $67.307 MM already spent. Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya are not likely to return, considering the former’s price and the latter’s struggles. Roszival is not likely to be trusted with 7th defenseman duties. With Panik’s stellar season, he is nearly sure to command a sizable raise. The 26 year-old had what can only be described an incredibly over-achieving breakthrough – he notched 44 points, 22 of which were goals. The expectation should be that, even under team-friendly RFA negotiations, he will earn upwards of $2 MM, likely in the $2.5 MM range. Assuming the other two RFAs (Rasmussen and Kempny) receive somewhere around $1 MM each, this brings the grand total to $71.807 MM with at least 3 slots to fill, probably 4.

From here, Chicago could go one of two routes. They could try to fill out the remaining spots with the absolutely cheapest possible players, and hope they strike gold with another prospect or free agent. They went down this road last year, and one could reasonably assume they may not have liked the results. The other option would be to move a sizable contract out in the name of increased depth. A few options would be Seabrook or Hjalmarrson on the back-end, or perhaps Hossa up front. Although the captain’s relative cost efficiency is arguably not good, I don’t see a scenario where the Windy City management would be willing to move on from Toews. Anisimov’s play and chemistry with Kane at a cheap 2C price-tag make him unlikely to be moved, and Kruger was just signed to a cost-efficient deal.

It should be noted that if Chicago would be (for whatever reason) unable to move a contract, they could opt to leave a player unprotected for Vegas to take. This is not a likely scenario, however. Many believe that van Riemsdyk will be left unprotected, but exposing such a cheap and effective youngster seems counter-productive at this point. The problem with ditching Seabrook or Hjalmarrson is that it opens up a huge hole that is not likely to be filled much cheaper – top 4 defensemen don’t come cheap, especially considering this year’s limited UFA class. Hossa, it should be noted, has a No Movement Clause, which would severely complicate any sort of transaction involving the veteran winger.

Decisions lie aheaad for Chicago management, and the decisions may be even tougher than they were after their Cup win in 2010. That off-season, they were forced into moving Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, and Kris Versteeg. Those tough decisions laid the groundwork for their next two titles. This is the cost of success in the post-cap era, and Chicago will again need to make sacrifices if they wish to see any more.

Chicago Blackhawks Recall Gustav Forsling

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With the Chicago Blackhawks clinching the Western Conference but now unable to catch Washington for the President’s Trophy, they are poised to give a couple of their veteran blueliners some rest in the last two games. The team has called up Gustav Forsling from the AHL and it is expected that Duncan Keith or Brent Seabrook (or both) will be given a game off to prepare for the playoff run.

Forsling has played 36 games with the NHL club this season, his first in North America since coming over from Sweden. The 20-year old was a fifth-round pick of the Canucks in 2014 and has shown enough to deserve these minutes late in the season. Undersized but confident, Forsling is a future powerplay quarterback that can distribute the puck quickly and effectively.

For the Blackhawks, the team is preparing for a long playoff run once again with their core of veteran players. It’s still unclear who they will face in the first round, as Calgary, Nashville and St. Louis jockey for position. It’s possible that Forsling could earn a spot during the playoff run if the Blackhawks were to suffer an injury or two. It’s a long battle to make it to the Stanley Cup Final, that usually takes at least seven or eight defenders.

Blackhawks Activate Rozsival From IR, Reassign Four

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The Chicago Blackhawks roster just went through quite the shake-up. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc, the Blackhawks have activated veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival from the injured reserve and have demoted defenseman Gustav Forsling and forwards Vinnie Hinostroza, Tanner Kero, and Nick Schmaltz to the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. Kuc also notes that the mass movement of players to the minors comes as Chicago enters its bye week. After defeating the Edmonton Oilers on the road last night, the Blackhawks don’t play again until the Oilers visit them at home on Saturday, the 18th. In the meantime, the four skaters can save the team some salary cap dollars while in Rockford and can get some extra ice time as well in the AHL.

When the Blackhawks do return to action, they’ll welcome the return of Rozsival to the lineup. The 38-year-old veteran of nearly 1000 NHL games is in his fifth season in Chicago, having helped them win the Stanley Cup twice in his short tenure. While Rozsival’s age and injury concerns have always been prevalent during his time with the team, GM Stan Bowman has managed to limit that risk by signing him to back-to-back one-year, $600K contracts since he began to slow down. Rozsival has not played in more than 65 games in a season since 2009-10, but when he is rested and healthy he can still be effective. A good puck-mover with a seasoned hockey sense and vision, Roszival gives the Blackhawks another option on the blue line down the stretch and in the postseason. He has just one assist in 14 games in 2016-17, but should be more productive as the season goes on.

Rozsival’s activation may keep the recently-demoted Forsling in the AHL, at least for a little while. The 20-year-old rookie has two goals and three assists in 36 games, but could benefit from some extra play time with the Ice Hogs beyond just this week, with Roszival, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Michal Kempny blocking him from regular ice time in Chicago. The forwards shouldn’t have the same concerns; all three have worked themselves into regular roles with the Blackhawks and will surely be back at week’s end. Hinostroza has been a pleasant surprise as a rookie, with 14 points in 46 games as a mainstay in the top-nine. Schmaltz and Kero are catching up though, with ten points in 38 games and eight points in 22 games, respectively. Without much cap space to add multiple veterans at the Trade Deadline this season, Chicago needs the three rookies to continue their strong play this season.

 

Hawks Place Rozsival On IR, Recall Forsling From Rockford

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Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter link) that the Chicago Blackhawks have placed 38-year-old blue liner Michal Rozsival on IR retroactive to January 25th and have recalled Gustav Forsling to take his place. It’s unclear what type of injury has led to Rozsival’s IR stint or how long he’ll be out, according to Charlie Roumeliotis of CSN Chicago.

Rozsival, a veteran of 16 NHL seasons, has served primarily as Chicago’s seventh defenseman this season, appearing in just 14 contests. He has registered a single point and is a minus-two while averaging just more than 15 minutes per game. The former Penguin, Ranger and Coyote was also a member of the 2012-13 and 2014-15 Stanley Cup champion Chicago teams.

Forsling, as Roumeliotis further notes, was sent down to Rockford to ensure he was getting top-four minutes to help advance his development. The rookie defender has appeared in 32 games this season for Chicago, tallying a goal and three assists. The 20-year-old Swede was originally a fifth-round selection, 126th overall, in the 2014 entry draft by Vancouver. He was acquired by Chicago via trade in exchange for fellow blue liner Adam Clendening in January of 2015.

Minor Transactions: 1/6/17

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Here are the minor transactions from around the hockey world for January 6, 2017.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have called up goaltender Tristian Jarry and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Wilkes-Barrie/ Scranton Penguins. Jarry has 14 wins this season, which puts him in a four-way tie to lead the AHL. Jarry returns to the NHL club to cover for Matt Murray’s recent injury. The Penguins had their CBA-mandated bye-week, so Jarry was sent down to play games instead of getting a week off. He has yet to make his NHL debut. Ruhwedel has 15 points in 27 games with the AHL club this year, and two points in five NHL games.
  • The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Liam O’Brien from the Hershey Bears of the AHL. O’Brien has 18 points in 28 games with the Bears, and could play his first NHL game since 2014-15. He had two points in 13 games with the Capitals in his first year of professional hockey. O’Brien has 42 points in 132 AHL games in his career, and is in the final year of his entry-level contract.
  • A day after clearing waivers, Anton Khudobin is on his way to the AHL as the Bruins call up Zane McIntyre in a swap of backup goaltenders. McIntyre is unbeaten in the AHL this season with a spectacular 10-0-0 record and an AHL-leading 0.951 SV% and a 1.41 GAA. He hasn’t had the same success at the NHL level, though. He’s 0-2-0 in three appearances with a 0.859 SV% and a 4.04 GAA. Meanwhile, Khudobin has struggled in his second stint in Boston, with just one win in seven games and a GAA of 3.06. He’s in the first season of a two-year contract which pays him $1.2MM per season. Khudobin will still account for $250K against the Bruins cap while he plies his trade in the AHL.
  • The Bruins have also returned energy forward Noel Acciari to the Providence Bruins. Acciari has struggled to earn regular play time in Boston since returning from injury two weeks ago.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Gustav Forsling to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. Forsling was a pleasant surprise who made the Blackhawks out of training camp, but has seen his ice-time decrease throughout the season. He has four points in 32 games in the NHL this season. The Blackhawks likely wanted to stop carrying eight defensemen, as veterans Brian Campbell and Michal Rozsival were healthy scratches for last night’s game. Forsling did not need to clear waivers to be sent down, so he was the odd-man out.
  • Staying with the Blackhawks organization, Spencer Abbott was recalled by Chicago on January 3. Three days and one game later, he’s heading back to the Rockford. Abbott was held pointless in just over eight minutes of ice on Thursday night. He has 21 points in 30 AHL games in his first full year in the Blackhawks organization since being acquired at the 2015 NHL trade deadline. Abbott played last season in Sweden before returning to North America. It’s likely that Jordin Tootoo will draw back into the lineup in his place.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent Patrik Nemeth to the AHL on a conditioning stint. The 6’3, 215 lbs defenseman has played in just 16 games with the Stars this season, with no points.
  • Oilers prospect Jordan Oesterle is heading back to Bakersfield. He has yet to appear in any NHL games this season, having been recalled to serve as the seventh defenseman twice. The speedy defenseman has eight points in 14 AHL games this year after scoring five points in 17 games with the Oilers last season.

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